Still bruised from the go-karting marathon the day before, RBL rehearsals got into full swing to produce an entertaining display at the Royal Albert Hall, on the Saturday night of Remembrance Weekend, alongside other performers such as Katherine Jenkins and Hayley Westenra (who Musn John Reed was determined to chat up). David Cole’s arrangement of Rocky featured the guitar genius of Musn Matt Gregory from RMSoM and the screamingly high talents of Bd CSgt Russ Young on trumpet. The BBC also showed the entire drum static on TV much to the amazement of the Buglers. Actually they were on top form all night, they even managed to have their epaulettes done up for the drum pile this year! The following day was of course the Cenotaph parade where the strong among us held our heads high and instruments too. The Army and R.A.F bands may put their basses and actually most other instruments down at every opportunity but we won’t be seen doing that! When the thousands of veterans march past with pride after standing there for just as long as we have, if not longer, it’s worth every minute of waiting (two hours, forty minutes to be precise!). Back again at Whitehall two days later on 11th November, ninety years after the end of the 1st World War, the PDM led the tri-service bands in a ceremony where the three surviving veterans from World War One, Harry Patch (age 110), Henry Allingham (age 112) and William Stone (age 108) laid their wreaths at the Cenotaph. Musn Kathryn (Nails) Harris Japan 2008They worship new Gods in the Tateshina Heights, Negano Prefecture, Japan. The five colossi that made up the Portsmouth Band brass quintet strode manfully into the Barakura English Garden and inserted English culture into willing Japanese with excellent music, compulsory English vocabulary lessons, good manners, one or two cheeky gags, Hendricks Gin, personal hygiene and fresh socks and pants, as Michael Robinson was in charge. This gig has been going on for seven years now and I know of no one who has not enjoyed it. Barakura English Garden is about two hours' drive from Tokyo in the mountains in a quiet tourist area, which in October is out of season. A few hotels, no nightlife, so what is so good about it? Firstly the Japanese practically bent over backwards to be as accommodating as possible. Most of the older generation still believe in the mythological England of good manners and common decency as their culture is based very much on respect and they seem to have a mutual admiration for us. Everything was organised and worked and if any problems did occur they were fixed straight away. Also, if you behave yourself and at least try to speak their language they very much appreciate it. We flew out with ANA, the only problem with which were the large Germans who couldn’t get comfortable in the small Japanese seats and consequently kept me awake for the whole fourteen hours. Excellent cabin crew, good food, more than adequate entertainment, and all our gear well looked after. At Narita Airport we met the redoubtable Mr Muneshiro Yamazaki, our Mr fix-it. We were then taken to Tateshina, with everyone suffering from monumental jet lag, and then ensconced in the Hotel Tateshina with its boil in the bag natural hot spring bath. Next day we met the Yamada family who run Barakura, and settled down to the rehearsals for the next five days, which consisted of four to five separate gigs a day, which included four fashion shows featuring strapping six foot Japanese models, (grown especially for the event), sauntering up and down the catwalk. Apart from the ten minute opening fanfare and photo call sequence the other slots were 45 minute little concerts with our audiences sat about two feet away politely pretending not to hear every mistake. We managed to hold our ground though with a fairly broad programme. People did comment that we were laughing and smiling a lot and eventually realised that it was when someone put in a howler, deliberate or otherwise. Mark Upton playing the Canadian Brass version of Amazing Grace got the biggest ovation every time we played it.
At the end of each day, back at the hotel after another basting in the hot spring baths, the hotel laid on a proper Japanese meal, completely different each night. This took about an hour and a half to get through and as sometimes it was not to everyone’s taste, Kev Lil, Mark Upton and I hoovered up after everybody to make sure the locals would not be offended. To round off the day it was back to my room for English spirits and for Mr Yamazaki to get a vocabulary lesson in English colloquialisms, courtesy of me, complete with diagrams and correct pronunciations. Mr Yamazaki was a fine pupil and amused us by practising his homework translating Michael Robinson’s introductions during our little concerts.
Jet lag usually finished us off by about 10 pm. One week is about right for this job, any longer and there would be a real danger of it becoming ‘Ground Hog Day’. The real pleasure was the hospitality of the locals, from the Yamada family to the staff and one appropriately named creator of stained glass objects called Yummy, whose grasp of the English language, her wares and her aesthetic attributes did provoke some attention from us. The last day was honestly quite sad, saying all our last goodbyes to everyone accompanied by the traditional swapping of presents, then, it was off to the nightspots of Tokyo for a day and the long haul back to London Heathrow and reality. If you ever get a chance to do this trip and have never been to Japan it is really worth going. We were fortunate in that all five of us got on and worked well together and all got on very well with our hosts. Kev Lillington is considered to be very sexy in Japan as Japanese women like their big men. Mike Robinson and Mark Upton made the Japanese brass and youth bands sound very English and very less American, as Michael was in charge. Nick Bailey was very good with the Japanese kids and I am the finest English teacher these people will ever see. Whoever goes next year will hopefully see the results of our efforts. In the end though it is the Japanese themselves who make the trip as charming as it is. Paul Bateman Holland Bowl Goes To The Royal BandDue to the various commitments throughout the world that the RN has been tasked with, rugby has been in slow decline over the last few years, as has RM Band Service rugby, that was until Wednesday 1st October 2008. The Holland Bowl (the Band Service’s equivalent of the Argyll bowl) is played in memory of Musn Barry Holland who was fatally injured when a coach he and the rest of RM Band Plymouth were travelling in crashed on the M4 more than fourteen years ago. Due to a number of factors (not least the fact that fewer people are learning the art of the front row), the Holland Bowl has not been challenged for more than three years, that was until the Chairman of RMBSRFC, Capt Rich Long, after much consultation with the more senior Band Service players, decided to turn it into a 7-a-side tournament. The date was set for the afternoon of Wednesday 1st October preceded with a training session under the watchful eye of CPOPT Dusty Millar. The first game was between the Band from CTCRM and the Portsmouth ‘Royal’ Band. It was a fairly one-sided affair with the Royal Band coming out easy winners with a 31-12 victory. However, as the tournament went on CTCRM Band began to play some good sevens rugby and looked as if they could make the final. The Band from Scotland used their ‘heavier weights’ to great effect by keeping it close to the ruck and driving up the middle. Not particularly sevens rugby but Drum Major Buster Brown and BdCpl ‘Smudge’ Smith were very effective none the less. The plan was to draw in all defenders and eventually release the experienced veteran BdSgt Nige Jones to use his pace to cross the try line.
Without doubt the game of the tournament was the semi-final between Portsmouth and Scotland. Huge commitment from both sides ensured a frantic pace both in attack and defence. The heavier pack from Scotland kept up their game plan by trying to bulldoze their way over the Portsmouth line but the Royal Band were having none of it. Both teams showed real commitment to the cause, delighting the large crowd with resolute defence and great attacking flare. It was 5-0 to Scotland Band with a minute to go when the ball was stolen from a Scottish ruck and passed along the line to Musn Steve Hall who rounded his defender to score under the posts. BdSgt Dave Prentice, from the Portsmouth Band, drop kicked the conversion to win the game 5-7 and set up a final that was to be a replay of the first game - Portsmouth against Lympstone. The final was another exciting tussle between the two bands but CTCRM Band had given their all too early in the tournament and had little left for the final. The Portsmouth Band came out worthy winners 25-15 and remained unbeaten for the whole of the tournament. A huge vote of thanks must go to LPT Rob Moses and the PT staff at HMS Raleigh, CPOPT Dusty Millar and BdCSgt Andy Gregory for organising such a terrific event and one which we hope will continue for many years to come. Grass roots rugby is still in decline but, as shown at this tournament, there are many undiscovered talents out there just waiting to be unleashed; all they need is the opportunity. Who knows, there maybe another Musn Spencer Brown out there. Last updated April 2009
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